Detachable handle for dollies and the like



May 3, 1955 J. A. MAHR DETACHABLE HANDLE FOR DOLLIES AND THE LIKE Filed Feb. 26, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l R mH m N A MM/ A 5 mm NW, v% n w R om ATTORNEY May 3, 1955 J. A. MAHR DETACHABLE HANDLE FOR DOLLIES AND THE LIKE Filed Feb. 26, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 VIII'IIIIIllffllflllilfflfl INVENTOR.

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United States Patent DETACHABLE HANDLE FOR DOLLIES AND THE LIKE Julius A. Mahr, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor, by rnesne assignments, to Harold R. Nielsen, St. Paul, Mnin.

My present invention relates to improvements in draw handles and, more particularly, to a detachable handle for dollies and the like.

An object of this invention is to provide a novel handle that can be readily attached to a dolly or removed therefrom.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a handle that is guided for attachment to a dolly and locked in an operative position.

A further object of the invention is to yieldingly hold the handle in a raised position when not in use.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the dra. ings.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevation view of a combined folding table and dolly having the improved handle attached thereto;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the front end portion of the dolly and the attached handle;

Fig. 3 is a view partly in rear end elevation and partly in section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. l, on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail view partly in side elevation and partly in section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3, and further showing a portion of the attached handle;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail view partly in side elevation and partly in section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view of the front end portion of the dolly and attached end portion of the handle; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view partly in side elevation and partly in section taken substantially on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6.

The combined folding table and dolly shown in the drawings is fully shown, described and broadly claimed in my copending United States application filed November 24, 1950, under Serial Number 197,396. The table top which, in the present instance, is the bed of the dolly, includes an upper rectangular frame 8, a rectangular subframe 9, a skeleton rectangular wood frame and a table top proper 11. The upper frame 8 is formed of angle bars arranged with one of their flanges turned inwardly and their other flanges turned upwardly. The subframe 9 is formed of channel bars arranged with their webs upright and their flanges turned inwardly. The upper frame 8 rests on the sub-frame 9 and is rigidly secured thereto. The wood frame 10 is contained within the upper frame 8 and rests on the inturned flanges thereof and the top 11 rests on the wood frame 10 with its upper surface flush with the upper edges of the upper frame 8.

The table further includes front and rear pairs of legs 12 attached thereto for inwardly folding movement and are held folded by a latch 13. Toggle braces 12 hold the pairs of legs in upright positions. Only the front pair of the legs 12 is shown. To convert the table into a dolly, it further includes a rear pair of floor wheels 14 and a front pair of caster wheels 15 secured to an inverted channel Patented May 3, 1955 bar 16 that extends transversely under the wood frame 10 and secured thereto and also secured at its ends to the sub-frame 9.

Referring now in detail to the present invention, in which the handle A is formed of a pair of long tubular members 17 that are laterally and closely spaced and rigidly connected: A transverse handle bar 17 is intermediately fixed to the member 17 at their outer ends. The inner end portions of the handle members 17 are in diverging relation, as indicated at 18, and the extreme inner end portions of said members are parallel as indicated at 19. The diverging portions 18 of the handle members 17 are rigidly connected by a crosstie member 20.

An elongated upstanding hinge plate 21 is rigidly secured at its lower end portion to the inner end of each handle member 17 and extends perpendicular thereto. The upper end portion of each hinge plate 21 is bent laterally outwardly to afford a spring base 22. A hinge pin 23, at one end portion, extends transversely over each hinge plate 21 at the inner end of the spring base 22 and is rigidly secured thereto. The outer end portion of each hinge pin 23 is pointed at 24. The hinge pins 23 extend through a pair of eyes, as shown, a pair of depending hinge ears 25, having aligned holes. The hinge pins 23 are inserted through the holes in the hinge ears 25 by a lateral movement of the handle A transversely of the dolly. The hinge cars 25 are rigidly secured, at their upper end portion, to the outer sides of a pair of inverted channel bars 26 and the upper flanges of the sub-frame 9. The channel bars as extend longitudinally under the wood frame 10 and are rigidly secured at their front ends to the upper flange of the sub-frame 9 which they underlap and to the channel bar 16 with which their rear ends abut.

An upstanding coiled spring 27 rests on each spring base 22 and is secured thereto by a nut-equipped bolt 23. Normally, the springs 27 at their upper ends impinge the webs of the channel bars 26 and yieldingly hold the handle A raised, as shown by full lines in Fig. 7.

When attaching the handle A to the dolly, the same is held as shown by broken lines in Fig. 7 and in engagement with the lower edge of the sub-frame 9 which aligns the hinge pins 23 with holes in the hinge ears 25. Next, the handle A is moved laterally with the sub-frame 9 acting as a guide to project the hinge pins 23 through the hinge cars 25. At this time, the springs 27 pass under the channel bars 26 and the hinge ears 25 are engaged by the hinge plate 21 as stops.

To prevent accidental removal of the hinge pins 23 from the hinge ears 25, I provide a lever-like interceptor 29 in the form of a flat L-shaped bar. The long arm 30 of the interceptor 29 is pivoted at its outer end to an upstanding lug 31 on one of the spring bases 22. This arm 3% extends forwardly downwardly under the respective hinge pin 23 on the opposite side of the respective hinge ear 25 from the adjacent hinge plate 21. The short arm 32 of the interceptor 29 extends upwardly perpendicular to the long arm 30 in front of the hinge pin 23. The bar forming the interceptor is extended laterally inwardly from the outer end of the short arm 32 to afford a footpiece 33. The outer end of the foot-piece 33 is bent upwardly to afford a stop 34 to prevent the foot when actuating the interceptor 29 from slipping laterally therefrom. This foot-piece 33 is below the sub-frame 9 where the same is easily accessible. A coiled spring 35 anchored at 36 to the adjacent handle member 17 and attached at 37 to the interceptor 29 at its elbow yieldingly holds the interceptor 29 raised against the hinge pin 23. The interceptor 29 is on the opposite side of the hinge ear 25 from the hinge plate 21 and thus holds said plate against movement that would withdraw the hinge pin 23 from the hinge ear 25.

To remove the handle A from the dolly,

it is only neces- 3 sary to step on the foot-piece 33 and press downwardly thereon, against the tension of the spring 35, to move the interceptor below the adjacent hinge ear 25 to clear the same and then move the handle A laterally to withdraw the hinge pins 23 from the hinge cars 25. In attaching the handle A to the dolly, it is also necessary to press the interceptor downwardly to clear the hinge car 25 and then release said interceptor to hold the hinge plate 21 against the hinge car 25.

To draw the dolly by means of the handle A, said handlev is pulled downwardly against the tension of the spring 35, to a convenient position for holding the handle bar 17. A stop 38 on the spring base 22'limits the downward movement of the interceptor 29.

The drawings illustrate a commercial form of the handle bar, but it will be understood thatthe same is capable of certain modifications as to details of construction, arrangement and combination of parts Within the scope of the invention herein disclosed.

What I claim is:

l. A dolly having a wheel-supported bed, a pair of depending hinge ears fixed to said bed and having aligned holes, a draw handle having at one end a pair of laterally spaced members, a hinge plate fixed to each of said members, a pair of aligned hinge pins fixed to the hinge plates and extending in the same direction through the holes in the hinge ears, said hinge plates engaging the hinge ears as stops, and an interceptor pivoted to one of the hinge plates and extending transversely of its hinge pins on the opposite side of the respective hinge ear from said hinge plate and engaging said hinge ear a stop.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 in which the interceptor is a bar, said structure further including a spring secured between the interceptor and the handle yieldingly holding the interceptor raised against the respective hinge pin and in engagement with the respective hinge car as a stop.

3. The structure defined in claim 1 in which the interceptor is a bar with its pivot at; one end portion thereof and having on its other end a. foot piece, said structure further including a spring secured between the interceptor and the handle yieldingly holding the interceptor raised against the respective hinge pin and in engagement with the respective hinge ear as a stop.

4. A dolly having a wheelsupported bed, a pair of depending laterally spaced hinge ears fixed to the bed and having a pair of aligned holes, a handle havingat its inner end a pair of branch members, a pair of hinge plates fixed on the ends of the branch members and extending perpendicularly thereto, a pair of aligned pivot pins secured to the hinge plates at their intermediate portions and extended transversely thereof and from the same sides thereof, said hinge pins being endwise insertablc through the holes in the hinge cars by a lateral movement of the draw handle relative to the hinge ears, the hinge plates outwardly of the hinge pins affording spring bases, and a coiled spring seated in each spring base, secured thereto and engageable with the bed as a base of resistance.

5. The structure defined in claim 4, further including releasable means for preventing accidental removal of the hinge pins from the hinge ear.

6. The structure defined in claim 4, further including an interceptor in the form of a bar pivoted at one end portion to one of the hinge plates outwardly of its hinge pins and extending transversely of said hinge pin on the opposite side of the respective hinge ear from said, hinge plate and engaging said hinge ear as a stop, said interceptor having on its outer end a foot piece.

7. The structure defined in claim 4-, further including an interceptor in the form of a bar pivoted at one end portion to one of the hinge plates outwardly of its hinge pins and extending transversely of said hinge pin and engaging said hinge car as a stop, and resilient means normally urging said interceptor toward hinge car engaging position;

8. A dolly having a wheel supported bed, a pair of depending laterally spaced hinge ears fixed to the bed and having aligned holes, a removable draw handle havinga pair of spaced mounting supports; a pair of aligned hinge pins extending in the same direction from said supports and inserted through the holes in the hinge ears by a relative lateral movement of the draw handle, and releasable means permanently and movably carried by said draw handle and extending into laterally spaced and adjacent relation to one support of said pair of mounting supports, said releasable means extending on the opposite side of the corresponding hinge car from that side engaged by the adjacent support.

9. The structure of claim 8 and in which said releasable means is pivotnlly connected to said one support.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNlTED STATES PATENTS 18,403 lvliller Oct. 13, 1857 519,489 Ziegler May 8, 1894 1,091,516 Johnson Mar. 31, 1914 1,582,045 DonHowe Apr. 27, 1926' 1,655,174 White Jan. 3, 1928' 1,848,956 Koehler Mar. 8, 1932 

